Connectors are used in a great variety of ways, for example in the automotive industry, to connect the various kinds of electrical and electronic components in motor vehicles to one another. These connectors often have a large number of electrical contacts and involve excessive forces and therefore necessitate actuating devices, such as levers, to facilitate mating. However, when such actuating devices are used, defined start and stop positions for the actuating devices must be established before the start and at the end of the mating of the connector housings or before and after the connector housings are separated. This creates additional space requirements, which, particularly in cramped situations, such as may arise during assembly and mating behind a dashboard, make it difficult to access or actuate the actuating devices. Assembly and mating are made even more difficult in these situations since the connectors are typically arranged very close together, such as in strip arrangements or cabling boxes.
The invention is therefore based on the object of simplifying the mating of a pair of connectors of this type, particularly when space conditions present a problem, and, at the same time reliably ensuring that the connectors are mated correctly